


The Ink Thickens

by CantansAvis



Category: Animaniacs, Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Cameos of Tiny Toons and Bugs Bunny, Gen, Memory montage(s), OCs are from previous Sherlock fic, Original Character(s), Talking Animals, author babbling IN story, author may be considered as character, maybe-kinda-sorta crack
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-18
Updated: 2013-08-19
Packaged: 2017-12-23 22:30:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 10,933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/931810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CantansAvis/pseuds/CantansAvis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Yakko, Wakko, and Dot show up on Sherlock's doorstep, asking for his aid. Someone help us for the fate of both worlds depends on three zany cartoons, two confused humans, an intrigued, sociopathic consulting detective, and...a talking dog?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Introduction

_It's time for Animaniacs!_

_And we're zany to the max!_

_So just sit back and relax,_

_You'll laugh 'til you collapse,_

_We're Animani–_

_* record scratch *_

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. What the hell is going on here?" Sherlock glared at the author.

Whatever do you mean?

"What's with the weird, cartoon theme song?"

Oh... I'm writing a crossover.

"A what?"

That means I'm using characters and events from two things, in this case your show and one of my favorite cartoons...

"A cartoon?" Sherlock stared at the author incredulously. "A cartoon? Those silly, random, illogical, animated drawings? You're crossing me with a cartoon?"

Um... yup.

"I will not stand for this! This is preposterous! Nowhere in my contract does it say that I have to –" Sherlock fell to the ground, gaudy yellow stars dancing about the big bump that had begun to bud.

Thank you, Wakko.

The black-and-white Warner flashed a smile a few times bigger than him. "My pleasure," he said with a wink before running off stage.

Now that I've finally broken the news to Sherlock, let the story begin...


	2. Our Story Begins

Sherlock almost dropped his petri dish and John almost spilt his mug of hot coffee as a high-pitched scream rang through the air. Both men (gently) dropped what they were doing and sprinted to the source of the scream: Zinny.

"What's wrong? What happened?" John asked as his and Sherlock's heads spun wildly, looking for any source of danger. Arthur was running circles around the room, barking at... air. As usual.

Zinny glanced at them nonchalantly, as if she had just noticed their presence. "Hm? Oh, I was just browsing through Netflix..."

John shook his head. _My god, was that a fangirl scream?_

"When I found _The Animaniacs_!" Zinny squirmed as she tried to contain her excitement. _It was,_ John thought.

"The what?" Sherlock and John said simultaneously.

Zinny sighed. She had to explain what the Animaniacs were to almost everyone she met. " _The Animaniacs_  was an American cartoon shown in the nineties. And it's way better than some of the cartoons they come up with today."

"A cartoon? Your scream brought me here for a cartoon? My experiment was almost destroyed for a cartoon?" Sherlock stared at Zinny. John just rolled his eyes. Sherlock and his experiments...

"A good cartoon," she argued.

"Cartoons are just an illogical, random, zany mess," Sherlock stated. Zinny made a frustrated noise.

"That's what you said about _Merlin_ , and who joined me at the convention?" Sherlock's face hardened and slightly darkened. _Is Sherlock blushing?_ Zinny giggled.

"You said you were going to Bart's!" John exclaimed.

"It was for an experiment. On human nature," Sherlock said casually. John and Zinny shot him unbelieving looks. As a result, Sherlock strolled over to the couch and in an irritated tone said, "Oh, just shut up and press play."

John joined the pair on the couch and with a self-satisfied smirk, Zinny pressed the play button. Arthur continued barking.

"Arthur, quiet!" Zinny commanded. Arthur let out a whine before laying on his stomach in defeat. _But something's not right..._

Suddenly, the room started to shake. Books began to fall off the shelves. The sound of glass breaking reached the trio's ears. "What's going on?" John shouted.

"No clue!" Zinny shouted back. Both were clinging onto the couch like cats on a scratching post.

Sherlock remained calm and silent, and observed the situation. _Interesting..._

Just as quickly as it started, the shaking stopped. Zinny groaned. In great white letters sprawled across a black background were the words, "Loading failed. Please try again later."

Mrs. Hudson entered the room. "What on earth was that?" she asked, flustered.

"Not sure..." Sherlock muttered.

The doorbell rang. Five pairs of eyes darted toward the direction of the sound. Arthur began to bark again.

"Ooh, maybe it's someone who knows what happened, " Mrs. Hudson said as she walked toward the door. John and Zinny had begun to survey the damage (Sherlock was still sitting on the couch, pondering what had just happened) when Mrs. Hudson shouted, "Boys! Zinny! It's a crate! For you!"

Excited, Sherlock sprinted out of the room, eager to delve into this mystery. He came back with a medium-sized, wooden crate, covered in all sorts of stamps. Burbank, California; Moscow, Russia; New Delhi, India; Zaire? Wasn't that now the Democratic Republic of the Congo?

As they looked over the crate, John asked, "Where do you suppose 'Acme Acres' is?" Zinny's eyes widened but she didn't say anything. Acme Acres was home to the whole Tiny Toons crew. It wasn't supposed to exist.

The crate began to shake. Mrs. Hudson quickly left the room. Arthur's barking escalated. Zinny, John, and Sherlock remained still and silent.

"Hello? Anyone there?" a familiar, girlish voice inquired. Zinny's heart pounded as she recognized the voice.

"Yeah, we could use some help getting out," a somewhat sarcastic, know-it-all voice piped up. Zinny almost felt faint. But instead she confidently strode forward.

"Zinny? What the hell are you doing?" John hissed.

"Shh...Trust me," she soothed. She pointed toward the fire poker. "Hand that to me, will you?"

John cautiously handed it over. Sherlock continued to watch, curiosity peaked as he heard the voices. The room was silent except for Arthur's incessant barking and the creaking and cracking as Zinny opened the crate.

Soon, the crate was fully dismantled, revealing three...things. They weren't exactly dogs. Or cats. Or bunnies, penguins, horses, skunks, dinosaurs, bugs, eels, or seals. But they were cute. They had cherry-tomato red noses and onyx-black eyes that had a mischievous glint. They were covered from head to toe in black and white fur. Sherlock poked one of the things.

"Hey! Watch it!" he exclaimed. This thing was the tallest of the three and had baggy khakis which were held up by a black belt with a yellow buckle.

"Interesting..." Sherlock mumbled as he observed his now inky finger.

"Hellooooooo male nurse!" the shortest one, with a pink skirt and yellow flower between her ears shouted before jumping into the arms of Sherlock and planting kisses all over his face.

"Umm...Dot?" The one with a red cap, blue shirt, and British accent (even though this was probably the first time he set foot on British soil), poked his "lovestruck" sister. "Remember, your pet?"

Dot's eyes transformed from glowing, red hearts back to her black eyes, studded with tears. She jumped out of the utterly confused, ink-covered consulting detective's arms.

She turned toward each human in the room, sniffling. "Mr. Holmes (and friends) we have a case for you."


	3. Moriatski Strikes Again

Before either Zinny or Sherlock could respond, John, staring at the the three things incredulously said, "Who the hell are you?"

With a mischievous glint in their eyes, the two taller things proceeded to say, "We're the Warner brothers!"

The sniffling, cute thing gloomily and without the cheer of her siblings said, "And the Warner sister."

Sherlock, still rubbing his inky fingers proceeded to say, "Okay Warners. What are you?" Zinny performed an excellent facepalm.

"What are we? We'll tell you!" the elder Warner brother said with a wink and pointed to the red-capped Warner. Music suddenly blared out from every corner of the room. John appeared dazed, in shock. Sherlock walked around the room - peeking under books, lamps, his skull - in search of the source of the noise. Zinny leaned on the wall, amused. These two had no idea what was going to happen.

The red-capped Warner burst into song:

_Maybe we are dogs,_

_Cute little dogs with ears,_

_Woof woof!_

Arthur looked up at the panting Warner. _He's not a dog...I think...Ah! He's confusing my brain!_

_And little tails that we can wag..._

_Hey! Let's go fetch his slippers and play tag!_

With that, the two elder Warners grabbed the nearest pair of shoes, which just happened to be John's, and tackled John, who looked quite miffed. "Oy! Watch it!"

The music continued to play. But no one sang after the red-capped Warner. "Umm, Dot?" The eldest Warner said. The music came to a halt. "It's your cue."

Seemingly lost and clueless, Dot said, "Hmm? Oh, yeah."

The eldest Warner approached his youngest sibling. "We don't have to sing now, if you're not in the mood," he said, patting her shoulder.

"No... Bob would've wanted me to keep going, plus it'll make me feel better." Dot cleared her throat. The music started to play again.

_Maybe I'm a cat_

_Whaddaya think of that?_

_A lovely cat that all the world adores..._

_And here's my kitty paws_

_With little kitty claws_

_Which I like to sharpen on your couch!_

John watched in horror as the couch was cut into pieces. Zinny sighed. Where would she sleep now? Sherlock didn't seem to mind. _Arthur's been urinating on it anyway..._ Arthur looked very sad. Where would he pee now?

"Argh! That's not funny!" John yelled. He pointed at the bouncy kids and looked at Zinny. "Do something!"

"Don't blame me, Sherlock's the one who asked!"

The eldest Warner was next to sing:

_Maybe I'm a bunny_

_Hopping 'round here happy as I please..._

_Or penguins and it's cold, which makes you sneeze._

Unbeknownst to John, the red-capped Warner (as a penguin) was was right behind the army doctor, who was just beginning to sit up after the tackle, with a tray full of ice cubes...which was promptly dumped down John's back. As John screamed, shivered, and performed a funny dance to get the ice cubes out of his shirt, Yakko continued to sing.

I _'ve got it! Of course!_

_Maybe I'm a horse_

_I can live on oats and hay_

_And laugh and run and jump and play_

_And you can ride on me all day!_

The khaki-ed Warner picked up the still-dancing John and began prancing around the wrecked room like a horse. "No way!" John cried out as he fell off the Warner.

Dot, appearing to have cheered up from the sight, sang, _Hey, maybe I'm a skunk!_

John crinkled his nose. "Oh god, you really stink!" Zinny covered her nose, and smiled as Dot flaunted her fluffy skunk tail in John's face. _Looks like she's feeling better..._

As Dot bounced away, the eldest Warner sang, _A dinosaur might be some fun!_

Sherlock, amused at the Warners' antics, piped up, "But then you'd be extinct."

_Maybe we're all insects_ , Dot sang, suddenly dressed as a ladybug.

_Do you like bugs and bees?_ Wakko asked, in a bee costume. Now where did those costumes come from? Sherlock wondered. He had been watching them the whole time...

Feeling somewhat proud he had a retort for his torturers, John said in a sarcastic tone, "You kids are buggy in the head!"

Yakko crept up behind the unsuspecting man and yelled, _Maybe we're giant fleas!_

Zinny couldn't breathe because she was laughing so hard. John's face turned red as he realized just how loud he screamed. Out of embarrassment, he ran into the kitchen.

_Maybe an electric eel_ , a now-familiar girlish voice sang. John brought his hand to his thumping heart as he saw Dot, in the form of an eel, swimming in a jar containing a human head (for another one of Sherlock's experiments).

_Or a seal!_ the red capped Warner sang as he, in the form of a seal, sat on top of Dot's jar.

_Get real!_ she scoffed. Then she appeared enlightened. _Hey wait a minute, I got it now!_

But before she could belt out what she had discovered, a somewhat frightened John ran back to the living room, where the three Warners were standing on the remains of the broken couch. Sherlock, still amused by the look on John's face, and curious as to what the Warner were, played along and asked, "You do?"

_Yes I do!_ Dot sang, full of glee. Her brothers joined in as she sang,

_We're not bees and we're not cats_

_Or bugs or horses or things like that._

_What we are is clear and absolute!_

_What we are, dear doctor..._

They looked toward John. _How do they know John's a doctor?_ Sherlock thought. _How do they know I'm a doctor?_ John thought.

Sherlock listened, waiting for an answer. He was disappointed as Dot sang, _Is cute!_ They all jumped into John's arms and gave him a big kiss, covering him in ink.

"Really? That's it? You're cute?" Sherlock asked.

"Yup," the eldest Warner said, smirking.

"Though no one's cuter than me!" Dot proclaimed.

Sherlock pondered how he could figure out what they actually were. Maybe if he could just try a harmless experiment or two...

Before Sherlock could try to pick up any of the Warners, Zinny dashed in front of them in a protective manner. "Don't try anything! First of all, they came here to be your clients. Second, you do not want to be their new special friend." Over her shoulder, the eldest Warner wiggled his brow and winked while the red-capped one showed off his mallet.

Sherlock sighed. "Fine. What do you kids want?" The trio jumped down from the broken couch.

"My pet's missing," Dot said. Zinny's eyes widened.

"Sounds boring."

"Some guy named Mori-something took him," the eldest Warner said.

"Yeah, said something about a game..." the red-capped Warner said, scratching his head, tongue sticking out.

Before Sherlock could make a sound, the author of the fanfic cleared her throat.

Hey!

The group looked up, confused. "What?" the eldest Warner yelled.

"We're rehearsing!" the red-capped Warner added.

"Umm, Wakko? This isn't a rehearsal. Remember our theme song? 'Why bother to rehearse?" Dot said.

"Oh, yeah..."

Helloooooo...

"Hi!" the Warners waved. Zinny looked very confused. Sherlock, as usual, was intrigued. John, probably due to the stress of this nonsense, looked faint.

I just want a proper introduction of you.

Warners pointed to themselves and mouthed, _Us?_

Yeah, you. I'm sick of referring to you as 'the eldest Warner', or 'the red-capped Warner' or 'the cute thing'... Well, actually Dot's been named. But still. Stand in the spotlight and tell us your name. And no jokes. Or this fanfic's ending.

The Warners grumbled.

The author's finger hovered over the red, "Destroy 'The Ink Thickens' Fanfiction" button.

"Fine, fine... In this day and age... a job's a job... Lights!" Yakko yelled. With a click, there was spotlight in the middle of the wrecked living room of 221B Baker Street.

The eldest Warner stepped into the spotlight and mumbled something.

We can't hear you!

"It's a fanfiction, of course they can't hear me!"

Just tell us your name!

"Yakko Warner!"

Was that so hard?

Yakko stuck out his tongue and slunk out of the spotlight. The red-capped Warner strolled into it.

Burping out each syllable, he said, "I'm Wakko Warner!" He rushed out of the spotlight

Uhh... Thank you.

The cute thing skipped into the bright yellow spot. "I'm Princess Angelina Contessa Louisa Francesca Banana Fanna Bo Besca the Third! But you can call me Dot!" she said sugar-sweetly. Her cute, innocent look was soon replaced with a tough, threatening, almost scary countenance. "Call me Dottie and you die!" She then turned back to her sweet self and leaped out of the spotlight.

Thank you. Now, back to the story.

Sherlock turned to the Warners. "Moriarty? What does he have to do with you toons?"

"If you watched enough cartoons Mr. Sherlock, you would see we tend to break the laws of physics," Dot said.

"What do they expect?" Wakko grumbled, "We never studied law."

Yakko cleared his throat and gently elbowed his brother. "Anyway, some toons are capable of many things. Horrible things. Unless tamed properly, they can wreak havoc on both worlds."

"Both worlds?" Sherlock repeated.

As an aside, Yakko said, "He's not very bright is he?"

Turning back to a ticked off Sherlock, he said, "Yours and ours. Now Dot's pet was one of those special toons. She was able to keep it in check...we're not quite sure how... but anyway, it was kidnapped. Kidnapped? Petnapped?" In an American football-style huddle, the Warners debated on which word to use. Yakko looked up from the huddle, with eye black streaks under his eyes and a yellow and blue football helmet with matching uniform. "Petnapped. If in the wrong hands, that pet will wreak havoc. I don't know why your friend Moriatski -"

"Moriarty's not my friend," Sherlock hissed.

"He speaks of you fondly. Quite creepily, in fact." The Warners shivered. "Anyway," Yakko continued, "He somehow snuck into the toon world, and into our water tower. He stole Dot's pet, somehow evaded all of Wakko's anvils and mallets, and locked us in the tower. Being an evil villain, he revealed his entire plan to us."

"What is up with villains and monologuing?" Zinny muttered.

"Villains, go fig." Dot shrugged her shoulders.

"If this pet is so horrible, how could Moriarty steal it so easily?" Sherlock asked, still annoyed with the Warners, but curious.

"It's in a little white box."

John began laughing hysterically. "The supposedly horrible monster that's going to wreak havoc on both worlds lives inside a little white box?"

Zinny sighed. She looked up an Animaniacs episode on her laptop. She paused it when Dot's pet appeared. She showed it to John. John stopped laughing.

"Well, what are we supposed to do?" John asked.

Yakko made another aside, "He's not very bright either, is he?"

"Help us."

Before Sherlock or John could reply, Dot cried out. "Yakko! My ink's thickening!"

"What?" He turned to see his sister become flatter and more papery. "You know what, we can discuss this in Burbank."

"Burbank? California?" Zinny asked. Yakko nodded, eyes rolling.

"Well, I don't think we'll be able to find plane tickets easily, it's nearing summer break. And California is very popular," John said.

"Not here! There." He pointed at the television. The three humans just stared at the toon. "Oh my... ugh, Wakko, help me out here." He grabbed Sherlock and John's hands and dashed toward the TV. Wakko had Zinny and Dot, who had just scooped up Arthur. They jumped through the TV.

It was like passing through a thin layer of icy mist, chilling and soaking the four earthly creatures. They landed, thumping and bumping, on asphalt. They saw a sun, but felt no warmth.

"Welcome to Burbank, California!" the trio of Warners sang.

Zinny looked around her. Everything looked different. The buildings were very general, like a painted background. John and Sherlock looked like caricatures of their former selves. Sherlock's lankiness, curls, eyes, nose, and cheeks were emphasized. John's eyes, hair, sweater, and stature were as well. Both were just beginning to sit up.

Zinny had a safer landing and felt like she could do anything. She reached into her back pocket. There was a nice-sized mallet. _Sweet!_ But before she could test it out on an utterly dazed Sherlock, Arthur, now the size of Wakko, said, "Hi!"

Zinny dropped her mallet on herself, promptly conking out.

"Every time..." Yakko sighed.

"Newb," Wakko snorted.

"C'mon, let's just drag 'em up to the water tower," Dot said. "It'll be... somewhat safer there."

Arthur already comfortable being a toon, said, "I'll help!" And began dragging an unconscious Zinny and a very confused John up the ladder. "Sherlock's acting weird anyway, it'll probably take all three of you to get him up to the tower."

Sherlock was running in circles, utterly confused as to how his world changed. He held up his magnifying glass to everything at first, then realized even his magnifying glass looked different. He went into a frenzied state of examining everything. Wakko promptly hit him with a mallet and proceeded to drag him up the ladder.

As the author waited for the Warners and Arthur to drag the two unconscious humans and one confused human up the ladder, she pondered how to end this chapter and what would happen if she called Dot, Dottie...

A round, black, lit explosive flew towards the author. "Not even in a fanfic!" Dot yelled.

* * *

 dljafowhngepajdf dfjaowifnaoifl dsaf jogivn ;ffjdionvapfddla fjapjdf d;kfepjgn ;dfk adf;dskf'a;dkf'adkfa'd; kfepjgn ;dfk adf;ds kf'a;dkf'a d kf a'd;n ; ffjdionvan ;ffjdionvan ;ffjdionva ldkjfowijogiasdnva;ldfapgj'abnad/vmdg;aowgnasld

_BEEEEEEEEEEEEEP..._

This fanfic will be continued at a later point for the author must currently regain her senses and tend to her wounds.


	4. A Quest

John was very confused. He was also very puzzled. He was... confuzzled. He felt like he was covered in ink and looked really weird. Sherlock and Zinny also looked weird. Cartoony, in fact. And Arthur could _talk_. The little bugger could **talk**.

John's head moved back and forth as he looked at his surroundings. He was in a water tower. Quite contrary to what he thought a water tower was like, it was cozy. Sherlock and Zinny had been casually tossed on the floor of the water tower. Yakko ,Wakko, and Arthur seemed to be reenacting a Civil War battle on the other side of the room -complete with uniforms, forts, and cannons- while Dot, the raging, temperamental, headstrong, irritable Warner who dislikes having a nickname with two syllables (the author typed furiously, pausing in tending to her wounds), was on her lacey, pink bed, reading, pausing to glare at the author.

"Umm, what the -" John jumped slightly as he struggled to continue talking. He cleared his throat, "What the – " There it was again. Just as he was about to say –

_Cripes!_ He couldn't even _think_ of the word. And why on earth did he just think 'cripes'?

"Heck? Hades? This is a children's program, you can't use that sort of language," Yakko scolded as he fired his cannon once more.

"Okay... what the _heck_ is going on?" John corrected himself.

"It'll be easier to tell you when those two wake up." Dot casually waved her hand toward the unconscious pair. As if by magic (and the author wanting to avoid too much filler fluffy stuff), the pair began to wake up.

Groaning, Zinny said, "What the -" Her eyes widened as she struggled to continue her inquiry.

"Heck," John supplied.

"What the _heck_ is going on?"

But before any of the Warners could answer, Sherlock moaned, "I need a -" He appeared slightly surprised and mostly curious as he couldn't speak.

"Children's programming!" Yakko cried, exasperated. "There are no words that are even close to swearing. There is no mention of anything relating to drugs, alcohol, or sex."

With that last statement, Yakko looked at the audience suggestively, wiggled his eyebrows, and said, "Though those innuendos we can sneak in are pretty fun. G'night everybody!"

Sherlock groaned. "But how am I supposed to work? This problem and situation is at least a three -" He humphed as he couldn't continue.

"Here, drink this." Dot gave him a mug filled with a brown liquid. As Sherlock sipped, his grey eyes widened. "What is this? It's- It's amazing! Better than any sort of dr-" Sherlock didn't even care he couldn't talk as he greedily gulped down the liquid.

"Cartoon coffee. Best stuff in the universe," Dot said matter-of-factly.

Zinny cleared her throat. "So... what's going on?"

"Geez, calm down," Dot soothed.

Yakko, being the talkative one, explained everything. They were in the cartoon world. They felt like they were covered in ink because in order to survive the two-dimensional, inky world, they had to be like cartoons...inky. They had all the characteristics and abilities that all toons had. For example, Arthur could now talk. They would be able to survive almost indefinitely in the toon world, unlike toons in the real world, where they would dry up and simply become drawings on paper, a process known as "ink thickening".

There was a long pause. Sherlock, Zinny, and John stared at the Warners and Arthur. The Warners and Arthur stared at Sherlock, Zinny, and John.

"What about the case? Moriarty? The monster?" Sherlock asked, curious and somewhat annoyed.

"Hmm?" Yakko said, appearing to pick at his fingernails...even though he had gloves. "Oh, yeah. We already told you all we know. We have to head over to the Wizard of Burbank to find out more."

"The Wizard of Burbank?" the three humans asked simultaneously, incredulously.

"Like a bunch of parrots," Yakko said, as an aside, and the screen faded to black.

* * *

 Cue montage of memories parodying _The Wizard of Oz_ :

Sherlock Gale mocks his witch-like neighbor, Moriatski ("MORIARTY!" Geez Sherlock...), I mean _Moriarty_ , who is threatening to kill his precious dog, John. ("Hey!" Shh! Can't I complete a simple montage?)

Sherlock, annoyed, leaves his neighbor's yard and, becoming quite bored, wanders around, where he meets a man, Mycroft, who claims to see his future. A twister, however, is approaching and Sherlock runs back home, mainly because John had escaped Sherlock's loose grip and had run in that general direction.

John runs around the house crazily, annoying Sherlock who is still chasing him. Due to the strong tornado winds, as Sherlock is running through the kitchen, a flying frying pan hits him in the face.

After waking up and enduring the singing of a bunch of munchkins, Sherlock and John (now in anthropomorphic form) are now in Oz (and in color), and following the yellow brick road. Unfortunately, they are being followed by two particularly annoying munchkins, Yakko and Dot. And they also pick up three other random strangers: Wakko, the brainless scarecrow; Zinny, the tin-woman yearning for a heart; and Arthur, the cowardly lion-dog.

And after prancing through a field of poppies and developing a friendship, they finally reach the Wizard of Burbank.

*End of montage.

* * *

 "Gah, that was stupid," John said, peeling the skin-tight dog costume off. Sherlock agreed as he pulled out the ridiculous pigtails he had to wear.

"Get used to it, this is a cartoon." Zinny elbowed John and continued washing the silver paint off her arms.

They were in a great hall, similar to the one in _The Wizard of Oz_ , but less... green. And more...yellow and blue.

"Who dare disturbs the Wizard of Burbank?" a booming voice from a fiery face inquired. While Arthur cowered behind Zinny and John almost followed Arthur's lead, Sherlock looked around him, wondering, deducing. _Warner Brothers colors. Parody. Animaniacs feel. Is that a picture of E.T.? And how do they not notice the curtains in the back corner?_

In less than a minute, Sherlock had already deduced who the Wizard of Burbank was. In less than two, Zinny figured out who the Wizard was. In less than three, Arthur wet himself.

"Arthur!"

"I can't help it! I'm just a dog!"

The booming voice cleared his throat. "Um, hello? Terrifying, all-knowing wizard here!"

"Oh yeah!" Yakko said. "We need to find Morianny-"

" _MORIARTY!_ "

" _Moriarty_ before the universe falls into chaos."

The fiery face pondered the situation. "Before I can tell you anything, you need to pay the price and plus, it'll make this fanfiction longer and more interesting. You must go on a quest. Each part of the quest is tailored for each of you. And you must go in that particular order. Trust me, I'll know if you go out of order. Now in order to receive your quest, you must fill out a quest request at the front desk. Begone!"

The group groaned as the trudged out of the room to fill out the paperwork.

* * *

After going through several pens, several pair of gloves (for the Warners), and several walls (for frustration), the group received their quest:

_You must bring back the following items from the following places:_

_Dot- Transylvania: Dracula's left fang_

_Wakko- Wackyland: the Dodo's umbrella_

_Yakko- Anvilania: the largest anvil ever_

_Arthur- Bugs Bunny's forest: Elmer Fudd's hat and gun_

_Zinny- Acme Looneversity: Bookworm_

_John- London: the other John Watson's mustache_

_Sherlock- Slappy Squirrel's tree: Slappy's hat_

* * *

The author looked upon the characters of her fanfic with pity. They're doomed!

She also grinned, somewhat evilly. This is going to be lots of fun...


	5. Chapter 5

It was dark and a storm was brewing. Normal weather for cartoon Transylvania. Yakko's head popped out of the ground and pulled out a map. As he studied it, Wakko, Dot, Arthur, and Zinny popped out as well. "Oh no! We're in Pennsylvania!" Yakko cried.

Arthur sighed. "No, we're in Transylvania."

"You sure?" The khaki-ed Warner looked at the talking dog suspiciously. Arthur nodded and pointed to the 'Welcome to Transylvania' sign.

"Oh..."

"Where are Sherlock and John?" Zinny asked, head swiveling as she looked for the missing pair.

"Down here," a muffled voice yelled. Arthur went straight to work. A muddied John, followed by a Sherlock rubbing at his scarf, were tossed above ground. "Must we travel like this?" Sherlock said, showing his stained scarf as proof why they shouldn't. Zinny shook her head. _Sherlock and his scarves..._ She giggled as Arthur, Wakko, and Dot laughed at the muddy pair. John's face turned bright, stop-sign red with embarrassment. Sherlock simply humphed. Humphing was becoming quite a habit for the consulting detective.

"It's a Warner tradition." Yakko shrugged.

"Hey! This is my quest! Can we please focus on _me_?" Dot yelled. Everyone turned their head toward her. "Thank you."

The camera panned over to winding path leading to the silhouette of Dracula's castle against the moon. "Hey!" Well, hey, the story needs to move on. With a humph quite like Sherlock's, Dot led the group toward the castle; John and Sherlock trailing as they tried to brush the dirt off their clothes.

"Wait," Zinny said as they walked down the long, winding path. "Didn't Dracula and his castle explode?" Sherlock and John stared at each other. They both mouthed, _Explode?_

"Time heals all wounds," Dot said knowingly. "Anyway, he's been a lot... friendlier since then."

They had finally approached the immense door of the castle. They rang the doorbell. It slowly swung open, creaking. "Who dare enters Dracula's fortress?" a thickly-accented voice boomed. John grabbed Sherlock's hand.

"Sorry, reflex."

Johnlock fan: Oh, sure John. It was SO a reflex...

Author: How did you get here?

Johnlock fan: ...The door was open.

Author: No it wasn't... Yakko!

Yakko: What? * resumes negotiating with another Johnlock fan at door *

Author: Stop letting Johnlock fans and ideas in here. The story's K+. When I write a K+ story, I avoid romance!

Yakko: But I'm making so much money!

Author: Yakko Warner, I'm going to count to ten and all (well, most) of that money and all of those Johnlockers better be out of here.

Yakko: But –

Author: 1... 2... * hand over 'Kick Yakko Out of Story' button *

Yakko: I'm your favorite, you know you can't kick me out.

Author: 3... 4... 5... * applying slight pressure over button *

Yakko: * a bit nervous * Eh... You sure you want to do that?

Author: 6... 7... 8... 9... * applying more pressure to button *

Yakko: Oh fine!

Author: Thank you. Now back to the story.

Arthur wet himself.

"Arthur!" Zinny hissed.

"What? That's a _scary_ voice!"

"Out of all the dogs at the shelter... I just had to pick the scardey-cat..." Zinny muttered.

"Excuse me?"

Arthur bickered with Zinny. John and Sherlock were arguing about how John's hand had grabbed Sherlock's (neither had any recollection for the author had wiped the memory of that little moment away).

Author: Hello?

The four looked up and screamed, "What?"

Author: Where are the Warners?

Their necks twisted into coils as they turned their head looking them. When they couldn't find the Warners, their heads spun crazily. Dizzy stars danced around their heads.

"Well, if we couldn't find them before, we certainly can't find them now," John stated as he walked around the hall unstably. Zinny and Arthur kept bumping into each other. Sherlock kept walking into the same wall.

Author: * opens break-room door * Oh, there you are!

The Warners were sitting on a plush, peach-colored couch. Yakko was sipping a mug of coffee. Dot was having a cup of tea. Wakko was eating a plate-load of biscotti.

Dracula was sitting across them in a similarly colored loveseat, drinking from a bag of blood as if it was juice pouch.

Author: Hey, we got a chapter to do.

Dot: But those four are just...

Wakko: Newbs! They can't do anything!

Author: Well, maybe you'll get your own fanfiction one day. But for now, just deal with it.

The Warners sighed, but nodded in defeat. However, a mischievous look that the author did not like passed between them.

Author: Well, can we go finish chapter now?

Yakko: But we already did.

Dot: Yeah, see? * holds out Dracula's left fang *

Author: * flustered * Uh, buh, well, how did you get that?

Dot: Like we said earlier, Dracula's been a lot friendlier lately.

Dracula turned toward the author and gave her a thumbs-up and a toothy (missing one tooth) grin.

Dracula: * in a voice without any hint of an accent * Yeah, I only have to be mean to them on set. With these kids by my side, I got a better contract with Plotz.

The Warners were dressed up in suits and each of them held a briefcase. Dot smiled as she said, "Anyway, his left fang was a bit shorter and duller than his right. He was going to have it pulled out and replaced."

Author: ...How'd you get it out?

Yakko: Don't you remember? Dentistry's our hobby.

Author: * looks back out at the still dizzy Zinny, Arthur, Sherlock, and John... who are still managing to argue with each other at the same time * Um... let's just wrap up this chapter now.

Dracula and the Warners looked out the door. Simultaneously, and with vigorous nodding, they agreed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have nothing against Johnlock. I also have nothing against Johnlock fans. (There are times where I eagerly support it.) I just thought I should poke a little fun at the Sherlock fandom. C'mon, this is an Animaniacs fic, you just can't avoid it.
> 
> Yakko, Wakko, and Dot opened the door.  
> Hey! You're not supposed to be in the Author's Note!  
> They closed the door and looked at the author, eyes gleaming with a devilish glint.  
> Umm... hey guys... Whatcha want?  
> "Our own fanfiction," Dot said.  
> Not...  
> Wakko inserted a cannonball into the cannon. Yakko lit a match.  
> Just now. I can't multitask.   
> The match moved closer to the cannon.  
> Okay, okay! I'll try multitasking!  
> Yakko blew out the match. Wakko rolled the cannon out of the room. "We'll be back," Dot said.  
> Arthur now entered.  
> Now what?  
> "I have a complaint."  
> Get in line...  
> "I was just in line!"  
> What? * Author peeks past Arthur to see the characters of her fanfiction lined up, looking quite miffed * Oh. I'll make a complaint box.
> 
> Five minutes later...  
> Okay, there. * puts shoebox with slit in top outside door *
> 
> Two minutes later...  
> Oh boy... * stares at shoebox overflowing with papers *


	6. Chapter Five and a Half

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this fic a while ago (during the school year). I thought about cutting this part out, but then the flow of the next chapter would be a bit awkward. The next chapter will be up right after this one.

As the group was traveling by tunnel, John asked, "Where exactly is Wackyland?"

Yakko, behind his digging-machine of a brother and studying an oversized map, replied, "Eh, well... currently it's in Acme Acres."

"Currently?" Sherlock raised his eyebrows.

"It's a fictional place. Like a toon, it can shift and change over time." Yakko shrugged.

"So where did it used to be?"

"Africa... Hey where is everyone?"

Dot, Zinny, and Arthur were fast asleep in a huddle about a dozen yards behind them, Wakko about to follow suit...

gihwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

"Hello?" Yakko shouted.

Uh, buh, wuh?

"Why are they and you sleeping?" Sherlock glared at the author. This was not the most enjoyable case.

Because this chapter is boring so far...

John looked stunned. "You're the bloody author! Fix it!"

Hey, I'm not a genie!

"Then why don't you try this again later?" Yakko said, hoping to soothe the author. Sherlock and John were very popular in the real world. He and his sibs were usually only recognized by nostalgic adults and maybe their children. Even the author only knew about them vaguely, from Wakko's Wish, which played around Christmastime for a few years when she was younger. The only reason she found them later was because she was looking for a way to help her sib remember the capitals of the United States. Yakko knew the way to stay alive was through the fans.

But I won't be able to update for weeks, months even!

"Would you rather have a horrible, undeveloped fanfic with shorter, horribly-written chapters?" Yakko argued.

No...

"Well, then get going!"

Okay... Well folks, you heard the toon. My hiatus starts at the end of this paragraph. I'll continue writing this fic (and others), I just won't post them for a while. Toodaloo!


	7. And We're Back!

The author knocked on the red water tower door, the sound echoing. "Who is it?" Three voices chorused.

"The author..." the author chimed back.

The khaki-ed Warner opened the door and casually leaned against the frame. "How's it going?"

Without replying, the author peered into the hollow space.

Arthur and Wakko were re-enacting a naval battle. They had two full-sized vessels in a small body of water (the author didn't even bother to question how that was possible, it was a WATER tower anyway, wasn't it?), complete with crashing waves and the annoying screeches of seagulls.

"Fire!" BOOM.

"Fire!" BOOM-SMOOSH.

"Hey! You can't use seagull poop!"

Dot was teasing Sherlock. The author snickered as the youngest Warner pranced around the lanky detective. Steam began to trickle out his ears and he was growing redder by the moment.

"Why do you wear a scarf?"

"Because it's cold."

"It's not cold now."

"But I feel cold."

"Why?"

"It has to do with this whole cartoon-universe."

"Why?"

"It's another dimension."

"Why?"

By this point, Sherlock was running out of answers. But he was Sherlock Holmes. He could never run out of answers.

"Because the author wanted to write a really random fanfiction."

"Why?"

And so the cycle continued, Sherlock's answers becoming more vague and cryptic and Dot continuing to question him. At one point, she stole his scarf and jumped aboard Wakko's ship.

Sherlock leaped onto Arthur's. "Fire!" he cried out.

Arthur stared at him incredulously. "Why?"

Sherlock sighed. It was going to be one of THOSE days.

John was sitting by the fireplace, sipping a cup of tea. He saw the author, grinned, and gave a small little wave. Zinny sat opposite him, reading a novel. She looked up and waved as well, before looking toward the naval battle, and with an impish smirk, joined Wakko's crew.

"Done giving the readers a description of the water tower yet?" Yakko said, bored and looking longingly at the naval battle. Wakko now had a pirate's hat and a rubber sword (at least, the author hoped it was rubber), and advanced towards Sherlock. Dot tied the blue scarf to the top of the mast.

"Yup. And I come bearing..." the author wasn't sure how the Warners would respond. She never knew how they would respond. "...news."

"What news?" Yakko cocked an eyebrow. [The author felt like she could make Yakko more sarcastic and more Yakko-ish, but felt like she would start blushing like mad and the story would turn into random gibberish. About Yakko.]

Yakko suppressed a smirk and repeated his question. "What news?"

"Time to get back to the story."

"Ooh! Is it my quest now?" Yakko asked, excited.

"NO!" a booming voice said. "It's Wakko's! And see? I told you I would know if you went out of order."

A fiery face appeared in the sky above the author. "You must go to Wackyland. Wizard, out." The face disappeared with a pop.

Wakko dropped his sword and tossed off his pirate's hat. "To Wackyland!" he hollered before jumping off his ship, next to Yakko.

"To Wackyland!" his sister sang. She jumped from the mast, using the scarf as a parachute, and floated down, next to her brother.

Arthur leaped from his ship, Zinny on his back, landing on all fours next to trio. John walked over to them leisurely, somewhat disappointed to leave his tea. Sherlock tried leaping from his ship. He missed the edge by THAT much and fell into the water. Muttering faux curses ("fudgin', flippin', schnitzel...fladoodling fudge..."), he dragged himself out of the water.

"Thanks for the help," he said scathingly, wet dark curls blocking his weirdly colored eyes (Are they green? Are they blue? Are they grey? No, they're Sherlock's!), his long coat dragging across the ground.

John sniggered as the Warners chimed, "You're welcome!"

"Well?" The author addressed the group, "Get going!"


	8. Stuck

As the group traveled by the traditional tunnel, John again inquired, "Where exactly is Wackyland?"

"You'll see," the oldest Warner replied vaguely, a (more than usual) mischievous glint in his eye. Dot giggled. John was frightened. The little Warner was cute, but when she giggled like THAT, something was about to go wrong. For Sherlock. And when things went wrong for Sherlock, John was soon to follow suit.

Wakko then stopped digging, and somewhat creepily said, "We're here..." He jumped up and out of the ground with ease. Yakko and Dot followed, with the same air of creepiness.

As Zinny popped out of the ground as well, Arthur dug a large hole for Sherlock and John to crawl through. No need for Sherlock to start whining about his scarf again ("Hey!" You have to admit, you do love that scarf a bit too much...) Loud, blaring, somewhat irritating music blasted the new toons' eardrums.

"We're tiny! We're toony! We're all a little looney!" a gang of colored animals sang and bounced toward the group. John, overwhelmed by noise, had jumped back into the hole. Zinny and Arthur, laughing, were trying to get him out.

"C'mon, we got a quest!"

"I don't flippin' care! When pink bunnies, blue rabbits, green ducks, and whatever that purple thing was, start singing, I start leaving!"

"You're in the cartoon universe! You can't DIE!"

John peeked at the pair. "Really?"

"Yes!"

"Oh." John crawled out of the hole. "Where's Sherlock?"

The three looked over at the Sherlock, the tall detective surrounded by short, singing toons. His face was bright red and he looked like he was about to explode. The Warners were off to the side, cracking up. The song was soon over, but it was too late for Sherlock. The red had darkened, steam and smoke whistled out of his ears, his coat flaps waved in an unseen wind, BOOM! Sherlock exploded, leaving the detective covered in ash, the tips of his curls smoking. The Warners laughed harder.

"Thank you, Buster, that was hilarious!" Yakko slapped the blue bunny on the back.

Buster chuckled. "Man, where do you find these guys?"

"U.K."

"Hey Babs, howabout another trip to London?" Buster called over to a pink rabbit.

"Uh, Yakko? Wakko? Dot? We got a quest, y'know, the whole fate of the universe..." Zinny prodded the talkative Warner.

"Oh yeah! Hey Buster, point us in the direction of Wackyland, will ya?"

"Just head past Acme Loo, and over the bridge. You can't miss it," Buster said while pointing in some vague direction. With confidence in their sense of direction, the Warner skipped off. Arthur hurriedly followed them. Zinny and John went to grab Sherlock.

"I don't think I can take this anymore," the consulting detective whined.

"C'mon, just shake it off!" Zinny grabbed Sherlock and shook him. In a cloud of dust, he was back to his annoyed self. "Now let's go! You got Moriarty to catch!"

Sherlock dug his heels into the ground and went limp, refusing to go in a childlike manner. But Zinny dragged the detective behind her with superhuman strength. John followed, wishing he had grabbed his phone or something to record this moment (and many other similar situations). "The world's greatest detective, my butt," Zinny muttered, frustrated. The man was willing to chase murderers through the streets of London, but place him with a bunch of anthropomorphic, singing toons and he just wants to go home. Geez.

As the group passed the front of Acme Looniversity. Zinny stared in awe. Is Bugs Bunny really in there? But alas, she had a quest and walked past the school, somewhat disappointed.

"Eh... What's up Sherlock?" Zinny turned with childlike, fangirly glee as the voice that had accompanied her since childhood reached her ears. The slim, lanky grey rabbit leaned on the stone staircase of the entrance, iconically chewing a carrot. Sherlock's eyes (which are a color that forever confuses the author) narrowed in suspicion.

"How do you know me?" the detective asked in his more-than-usually peeved manner. Zinny felt strangely embarrassed. _Of course Sherlock would interrogate a cartoon character...One of my favorite cartoon characters..._

The rabbit (whom the author refuses to call a bunny... even though it's in his name) casually walked down the stairs, as if unaware of the world's impending doom. "Word's spread about a couple of crazy new toons," he said, approaching the large group. Zinny, for some reason, felt like swooning. _Holy guacamole, it's flippin' Bugs Bunny!_

Bugs' black eyes turned toward the three, still-sniggering Warners. He held up a hand. "And that my friends, deserves a high five!" The Warners whooped and enthusiastically reached out to slap the white-gloved hand, but only managed to hit each other. With a wink, the rabbit said, "Too slow."

He turned towards Zinny (who apparently _like-like_ s Bugs... "I do NOT!" Uh-huh...SUre...) and asked, "So you're on a quest to save on the universe?" She meekly ("It was not 'meek'!" Hey, I'm the author here! Just because you're my OC, does not mean I'll be more lenient towards you!) nodded. Bugs nodded in return, seeming to ponder.

To the author's surprise, the rabbit turned toward her.

Um... hi? * little, confused wave *

"This chapter's getting stale for you isn't it?" His all-knowing toony eyes stared at her, his true age showing in the stare's intensity.

I'm determined to finish it! Just kind of hitting a wall...and then another one...and then another one...then before I know it, three weeks have passed and I still only have about a paragraph for this chapter...

"Here's a bit of advice, montage," he said with a wink that would melt the heart of most female creatures. ("Ha! You like him too!" NO, 'twas just a description. "Uh-huh...SUre." As of for the rest of this chapter, you are muted. * silence * YAY!)

* * *

 The author was in a dark classroom, fiddling with the old-fashioned slide projector, frustrated. "Ya need some help there, doc?" Bugs called over from the corner. The author waved a hand in a 'I totally got this' manner. The other toons, covered in muck and sweat sat limply in the desks. John was sleeping, leaning on Sherlock, who was drooling on Arthur's butt. Yakko was able to let out a feeble chuckle, but the rest simply smiled weakly.

The projector burst into flames. Crap.

Bugs looked over at the readers. "This might be a while folks..." he said pointedly, jabbing a thumb at the scene behind him, the author desperately trying to extinguish the inferno with an old red fire extinguisher that was only letting out weak puffs of white.

"In the mean while, the author will use me to shamelessly advertise the rest of her stories! If you like Sherlock, Merlin, the Lorax, the Animaniacs, etc. then get reading!(Really? Shameless, doc, _shameless..._ )"

He looked over to the author who was still stamping out the flames. His ears flopped down in a furtive manner, his eyes squinted, and he cupped his gloved hands around his muzzle as he whispered, "Or run! Run while you can!"

Hey!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was really stuck on this chapter. I couldn't take it anymore. Ergo, a projector in flames.


	9. A Montage

The author, coated in ash and sweat, was still fiddling with the projector. Bugs sat in the back corner, drumming his fingers impatiently. "Ya need some help there doc?" he called.

The author's eyes narrowed, miffed. "Just...give...me...a...sec..." With a definitive click, light poured out of the frustrating machine and the slideshow could begin. The author pointed at Wakko. "You're up first, champ." Wakko limped out of his seat, still exhausted by the quest so far. ("So far? I thought it would be done after this chapter!" Oh stop whining, the next two are basically just torturing John and Sherlock. "Oh. Yay!" "Wait, what?!")

The author gave him a choice of a laser pointer and a regular, wooden pointer stick. After successfully distracting the Warner for about ten minutes with the laser pointer, the author just handed him the old-fashioned demonstrative device. Tired, the Warner quickly went through his presentation like so:

"Here's us before entering Wackyland..." He weakly pointed at the slide of the group smiling (well, minus Sherlock, who was just scowling, as usual) in front of Acme Loo. Wakko smiled as he went through the next few slides. "And here's John and Sherlock being thoroughly mocked by the Dodo." The group (well, except John and Sherlock, of course), though exhausted, laughed weakly, at the passing pictures. John running into walls. Sherlock attempting to argue with the Dodo, only to end up chasing it and running into a mountain (which turned out just to be a painted background). John and Sherlock both as furious as upchucked woodchucks ("Are upchucked woodchucks really THAT mad?" Hmm... I'll need to check up on that..) as they tried to hunt down the Dodo. "Since the Dodo was so entertained, claiming he hadn't had that much fun in years, he simply let me borrow his umbrella." With a grin, he held up the the small pink umbrella before tucking it under his hat.

The author motioned that the middle Warner could return to his seat. She then crooked a finger at Yakko. "Your turn." With a wink that caused the author to blush slightly, the lanky Warner, though as tired as his brother, strolled confidently toward the projector and snatched the laser-pointer from the author, who proceeded to glare at him and plot her revenge ("Wait, what?").

"Well, getting the largest anvil in the world was super easy, since you know, I'm king of Anvilania." With a bend in his knees, he was about to break out into song when the author smacked him lightly with the pointer stick.

"We don't have time for that. Plus, I'm annoyed with you."

With a shrug, Yakko continued. "Anyway, since I'm king, I just checked up on a few things, told the anvil-handlers the situation, and borrowed the anvil." He gestured out toward the window, where the anvil was sitting in the yard of Acme Loo.

He quickly flipped through his slideshow, showing a shocked John and Sherlock who could not believe that 1) Yakko was the actual king of ANYTHING, and 2) That he could actually be _responsible_ and manage an entire kingdom. Sherlock had his whole suspicious, squinty-eyed look in every single picture, while Yakko just seemed to ignore it. "Umm... well, that's it." The tall Warner rocked back and forth, tired, about to swoon ("I was not about to 'swoon'!" Uh-huh... SUre...). The author gently pushed him back towards his seat (where he promptly, and adorably, fell asleep) and motioned for Arthur to come up.

"I'm still not quite used to this whole talking thing... But anyway, so we went into the forest, and Bugs here helped me pull a few old pranks on Elmer here..." The slides showed some infamous pranks of the rabbit's golden years being pulled by the dog and his companions. "Of course, I'm a little new to this..." The next slide presented the group being shot at by Elmer. "But while Elmer was...um... distracted, this wascally wabbit," he said with in a perfectly Elmer-esque accent while jabbing a thumb towards Bugs, "snatched the hat and gun, and we all left...um... the end?" The talking dog held up his hands in an 'I don't really know what I'm doing' fashion and went back to his seat, while the last slide showed the group, covered in dirt, sweat, and gunpowder groaning as they realized they needed to go all the way back to Acme Loo.

"Zinny...Zinny..." The author poked her sleeping OC. "C'mon, your story's real quick, just get up..."

Zinny waved her creator away. "If it's so quick, why don't you do it?" she mumbled into her arms, which were acting as improv pillows. The author was flabbergasted. Her OC could not treat her like this! She somewhat-gently (not really) pushed Zinny out of her chair, who landed on the floor with an _oomph_. Rubbing her rump and grumbling, Zinny walked to the front of the room, red and scowling as Bugs and Yakko snickered at her.

"So here we are, completely exhausted, and in the library..." The slide showed most of the group, collapsed on the tables, scattered around the room. "And here's me, TIREDLY," she said, glaring at her creator, "explaining the situation to Bookworm, who graciously let me borrow him." She pointed at the napping green worm on her desk and proceeded to slink back towards it.

Oh, OCs these days... The author shook her head. Well, folks, let's let these cranky cartoons rest for a bit... And then we'll get to more torturing of John and Sherlock! * kids: "Yay!" and applause * Sherlock lifted his head up with a snort, "Wait, what?"


	10. Chapter 10

The author looked upon the group as a doting aunt looks upon her sleeping nieces and nephews, who had retreated into the warm and cozy library. Zinny was drooling on the library desktop, Bookworm sailing in the pool of spittle. Arthur had wrapped himself into a doughnut on the fluffy blue carpet. The three Warners had built a fortress out of books and were napping on a luxurious triple bunk bed. John was stiffly asleep in a wooden desk chair, arms crossed. Sherlock had dozed off in an old aquamarine armchair. His lanky frame draped over it, his legs hanging off one end and his head, off the other, his pale face free of curls and seemingly at peace.

"I'm going to hate myself in the morning..." With an evil smirk, the author whipped out an air horn, blasted it, laughed, and slipped back into her (awesome) lair. Poor little Bookworm experienced a little tsunami in his little sailboat as Zinny shot up...into the ceiling. Log-like John also shot straight up, like a launched pencil.

Sherlock, startled, rolled off the armchair. He lifted his head, questions in his eyes. "Hm... Nothing bad happened – " Zinny, unlike John, was not firmly stuck in the ceiling and promptly landed on Sherlock, who heaved with a great _oof_! _I hate this. So much_ , the detective rolled his eyes.

Arthur and the Warners calmly yawned and stretched, lazily getting up. "So..." Yakko yawned, "what now?"

Working out the crick in her back Zinny said, "You know what? I'm kind of tired of the explosions, and the dynamite, and the anvils..." The Warners gasped in horror. "I'm not a toon! I love toons, but that doesn't mean I want to be one...I propose that I stay here to um, keep watch over all the stuff. You never know, someone might want um, Elmer's hat! Yeah, lots of people want his hat..." Zinny swayed side to side, like a bamboo stalk in the wind. With a high-pitched whine, Arthur curled up at his master's feet.

Yakko shrugged. They only brought them here to help get Dot's pet back. ("I MISS MY PET!" Shh... Dot... Just wait...) "Sure, why not? And why don't we split up to finish up this quest?"

Dot, still melancholy from the loss of her pet, nodded in agreement. Wakko, tongue sticking out, also agreed. John, somewhat nervous, simply shrugged. In an 'oh-my-gawd, SERIAL KILLER!' manner, Sherlock jumped up and zoomed out of the room, the door now sporting a Sherlock-shaped hole.

Yakko raised an eyebrow. "Well, I'll be heading over to Slappy's with Mr. Excitable over there," he said, jerking a thumb towards the door. "You guys head over with Mr. Earthquake here." Yakko pointed at the shaking John.

Dot tugged on John's sleeve, shaking as well when she made contact with John. "C'mon John, let's go meet Watson!" she said, trying to keep a cheerful demeanor.

"Huh?"

* * *

 John stared at the plaque on the door. 221B. He looked back at the street sign. Baker Street.

Weird.

"Well? What are you waiting for, Christmas?" Dot tapped her foot impatiently.

"I'm just a little nervous..."

"Of what? It's just you!"

Not knowing whether to be encouraged or indignant, John rapped his knuckles rapidly on the door. With a gentle creak, the door opened and Watson met Watson.

"Hello young man! How can we... young man? Are you okay?" John 's eyes (the younger, skinnier one with Dot) were about to literally pop out of his head. Wakko was about to hit him (and then the Watson with mustache they needed) with his mallet when the strangest thing happened.

John ripped the mustache (apparently fake) off the chubby Watson and ran yelling, "C'mon! Let's go!"

Dot looked at Wakko in wonder. "Did he just...?" Wakko slowly nodded, also in awe. Sharing a grin, Dot and Wakko ran after the Watson they never thought could be toony, no matter how much ink you dunked him in. Flustered and red as a Warner's nose, but knowing he wouldn't be able to catch up with the springier version of himself, de-mustached Watson yelled a few explicit words before slamming the door.

* * *

  _I_ _nside toony 221B Baker Street:_

"Watson? Who was at the door? A barber?"

* * *

 Sherlock looked over at the eldest Warner. "I don't need any help." He continued ahead of the slightly stumped Yakko, coat tails (which Yakko thought to be ridiculous) flapping behind him.

Yakko shook his head, pitying the lanky man. "This is Slappy we're talking about." The Warner jogged up to meet the detective, standing on the Slappy's doorstep.

"So?" he said while pressing the doorbell.

"So...that means you have to go to heck and back before you get my hat." Sherlock looked at the aggravated, somewhat elderly squirrel. "Here, catch!" She tossed the detective a black ball and before Sherlock could analyze, deduce, or react at all, _BOOM!_

"I told you so!" Yakko yelled from afar. He had seen Slappy's reaction coming and ran for the hills, literally. Yakko was atop a green hill, outside the explosion radius. He quickly ran back. "Lemme handle this."

He knocked politely on the door. But as the door opened, before he could say anything or Slappy could react, Sherlock grabbed the hat and ran. The pair of toons looked at the running Sherlock incredulously. Yakko looked at Slappy. "Aren't you usually prepared for, you know, everything?"

Slappy stared at the disappearing dot of a detective."Never, in a million years, was I expecting that stiff to just steal my hat off my block. I had expected some sort of elaborate plot. Not the most simple, reckless, toony plan!" With a huff, Slappy slammed the door shut.

As Yakko was about to leave, Slappy opened the door once more. "I'm still getting paid for this cameo, right?"


	11. Bob & Fin

Zinny couldn't believe it. John _and_ Sherlock had acted toony.

They had been reckless. John didn't panic. He wasn't conflicted. He just ripped the mustache off a man. Sherlock was a bit easier to believe; he was usually straightforward and to the point. But still, he had a _bomb_ thrown at him, exploded, and then proceeded to snatch the hat off the irritated squirrel who had thrown the bomb.

"Well?" Sherlock tapped his foot impatiently. "Let's get this over with!" Carrying Slappy's hat in one hand and holding the door open with another. "C'mon!"

The group walked out the door, Zinny cradling Bookworm, Arthur mocking Elmer Fudd while wearing his equipment, making Dot and Wakko laugh while they tried not to drop their items. Yakko called the helicopter to drag the anvil to the Castle in Burbank.

Soon enough, they were back in the yellow and blue hall and the booming voice said, "Back already?" A pair of cartoony eyes appeared and glared at the author, who just shrugged. For her and her characters, the quest had grown tedious. "Well sorry! The magnificent wizard is a bit busy."

"Doing what?" Yakko yelled, also getting annoyed. "Your cartoon was cancelled years ago!"

The man behind the curtain stepped out. "Was I really that obvious?"

All the toons, even Arthur by now, simply rolled their eyes and said, "Yes!"

The man shrugged. "Well, Moriarty should be on the 'evil villain/climactic moment' set. Good luck!" With a wave of his hand, he dismissed the disgruntled toons.

* * *

 "All that to move about 300 feet to the left?!" John yelled as the group moved toward the stage set..

Yakko punched him in the arm and hissed, "Sh! Do you want him to know we're here?"

"Oh," a slippery, snake-like voice, both familiar and annoying, said. "You made it to the party!"

"Goshdarnit," Yakko muttered, frustrated. Zinny quietly sniggered. _That sounds so ridiculous..._

The group turned the corner to see Moriarty ("Finally!" Sh! You're ruining the climactic chapter!) dressed in a very... witchy fashion. He donned a dark, raggedy pointed hat ("Ahem, it is the latest in witch vogue." Uh-huh, sure...) and similar cloak. He even had a pickle tied to his nose as an attempt to look more witch-like. The villain stood over a giant cauldron, bubbling with a thick, green-purple liquid.

"Eh... what's up with the whole 'wicked witch of the west' look?" Yakko inquired. Moriarty's eye's lit up.

"You could tell I was going for the wicked witch of the west?" He grinned and slightly bounced up and down.

Sherlock sighed. What was with villains these days? "Where's the pet Moriarty?" he demanded, taking his "hero" stance: chest out, coat-tail and scarf flapping in an unseen breeze (i.e. the fan in the left-hand corner), a serious stare that the camera zooms in on for a few moments.

Moriarty's eyes and grin turned shifty, like a fox. "You mean... this pet?" He whipped out the white box, making Dot gasp.

"Bob!" Sherlock, John, Zinny, and Arthur shot her an incredulous look. "What? I was like, four." Yakko rolled his eyes.

Moriarty's twisted smile twisted even more, like an evil Cheshire cat. "Bob's a bit busy right now... Attack!"

Moriarty opened the box with a flick of his wrist and a purple monster with several eyes and several limbs popped out.

"Bob!" Dot cried out again and started running towards the creature. Zinny, John, and Arthur started towards her, but Sherlock and Yakko held them back. They had both deduced what would happen.

Flowers suddenly sprouted all across the set floor and sunshine poured in. Happy music filled the air. "What's going on?" Moriarty yelled as his thick goop, which would allow him to open a portal between the two worlds (focused at the center of the British government), suddenly turned bright and sparkly and smelt of lilacs.

"The love between a toon and her pet," Sherlock stated simply. "The love between a toon and her pet." Yakko nodded in solemn agreement.

Dot ran into the tentacles of her pet and hugged it, laughing as it tickled her. Soon enough, she closed the box and tucked it into her dress. "Home sweet home," she stated as she patted her pocket.

John narrowed his eyes. "That was way too easy. Why on earth were we needed?" he demanded, looking at Yakko, eyes full of accusations.

Yakko shrugged. "One, it's fun to annoy and sometimes transform stiffs like yourself." John wasn't sure whether to be more insulted or angry. "And two, because I never would have figured out that." He pointed in the direction of the cauldron.

"I'm melting! Melting... melting..." John saw pickle-nosed Moriarty swirl down a vortex in the lilac-smelling cauldron, with Wakko and Sherlock grinning and... high-fiving?

Sherlock jumped off the platform. "He'll be in prison by the time we get home," he stated, with a much smaller smile.

"Um, how did you know that the swirling vortex of lilacs would take him back home and put him in prison?" John queried.

Sherlock stared at him. "Why it's elementary, my dear Watson."

* * *

 The group... regrouped in the water tower. "So this is it?" Zinny asked, tone tinged with regret.

"Well, if we ever want to annoy you again..." Yakko trailed off. John and Sherlock groaned. "Or if we have another mystery, we'll give you a call... in song." As he winked, John and Sherlock groaned again.

"Well, it was great being here, but how do we get home now?" John whined. ("Hey! I did not _whine_." Yes you did. I'm the author and I say so.)

Before Yakko could reply, Sherlock stated, "It's simple John. As can be seen by the ongoing parody, we just need to tap our heels three times and say, 'There's no place like home' and we'll show up at home, probably as if nothing had happened. Or as if we all had a very strange dream." Yakko gaped at the detective.

"Uh... yeah. That's right. See ya 'round!" He, along with his sibs, waved farewell as the new toons disappeared in a wavy, fading screenshot.

* * *

 "Ugh, I have a hell of a headache," Zinny groaned. The three were sprawled all sprawled across the couch, the TV screen still red with Netflix attempting to load.

"What just happened?" John asked, also cringing with pain.

"I need a cigarette!" Sherlock moaned loudly.

"You all were turned in cartoons, you silly nutters," a much smaller Arthur stated.

The trio stared at him. "What. The. Hell," Zinny and John said unanimously.

Little Arthur gave an apparent shrug. "Some effects take longer to wear off."

"I'm going to brew some coffee..." Zinny backed away toward the kitchen.

"I'll get some tea..." John quickly followed his flatmate, once in a while whipping his head around to stare at the talking dog.

Sherlock glanced at the dog with apathy. He really just wanted a cigarette. The doorbell rang, setting off the waiting explosion of a headache in Sherlock's head. Against his usual character, he quickly got up and stormed toward the door. "What the hell do you..." He stopped mid-tirade as he stared down at two bunnies. Two colorful, familiar bunnies.

"What's up, Sherlock?" The blue one in a red sweater winked at him.

Sensing Sherlock was about to slam the door in their faces, the pink bunny said, "We have coffee!" Sherlock remembered the cartoon coffee. Oh the caffeine, the thrill, the adrenaline. It was way better than a cigarette.

"John! Zinny! We have a new case!"

The pair entered the living room, avoiding eye contact with Arthur. But before they could react to Sherlock's declaration, they nearly dropped their coffee (and tea) cups. The Netflix screen had finally loaded. And the Animaniacs were all waving, smiling and laughing at their reaction.

\- Fin -

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if the ending seems a bit rushed. I have a hard time keeping stories on track and going at times. But anyway, thanks for reading! :)


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